ESD’s Letter to Parents Informing Them (Kinda) of Student-Teacher Affair

Well, the Morning News beat me to it–I searched high and low yesterday and, as far as I can tell, the lawsuit hasn’t actually been filed–but the parents of a former student are suing the school for, according to the article, “failing to protect their 16-year-old daughter from a sexual relationship with a teacher and expelling her ‘for being a victim.’” Former history teacher J. Nathan Campbell, who left the school in the fall, is the teacher accused in the lawsuit, according to DMN (and, if Facebook is to be believed, is the best football announcer in the history of ever).

Campbell’s home phone has been disconnected, so no dice yet talking to him. School officials are referring questions to attorney Donald Godwin, with whom I just left a message. Below, though, is a letter, dated Monday, from headmaster Stephen Swann to parents, informing them (albeit very obliquely) of the allegations against the school. “[P]lease know that ESD stands by its certain knowledge that
the school acted in an appropriate, timely, and definitive manner,” he writes. Major props to Park Cities People blogger and columnist Merritt “Queen Miracle Worker” Patterson for digging this up.

My main question: If the school found out about the alleged affair in the fall, why are parents just being informed now that a lawsuit is being threatened? Updates to come.

By Eric Nicholson May. 19, 2010 | 12:01 pm | 9 Comments | Comments RSS
9 comments to "ESD's Letter to Parents Informing Them (Kinda) of Student-Teacher Affair"
  1. franklin @ May 19, 2010 at 3:59 pm
    how would one find a copy of the lawsuit to read it?

  2. The Suit Against ESD, In Its Entirety « Preston Hollow People @ May 19, 2010 at 4:55 pm
    [...] School of Dallas is culpable for an alleged seven-month sexual relationship between history teacher J. Nathan Campbell and a 16-year-old student, which was filed Monday.  The parents want a refund of all tuition ever paid to the school (the [...]

  3. franklin @ May 19, 2010 at 8:56 pm
    that was fast!

  4. former esd student @ May 21, 2010 at 6:08 pm
    I think people should know that this girl had a reputation of hitting on other male teachers. It is completely Campbell’s fault for going for it. However, she had that reputation prior to their affair.

  5. Drujon @ May 25, 2011 at 4:35 pm
    @ former esd student. It doesn’t matter if this girl stripped naked and jumped every male teacher she saw. She shares no blame what-so-ever. We are talking about a 16 year old girl and a man twice her age. I suppose you believe that woman who dresses provocatively and is raped should share the blame? You should be ashamed of yourself for posting that kind of vitriol.

  6. ESD parent @ August 20, 2011 at 11:52 am
    Merritt is a “queen miracle worker”…… It must be really tough to get your hands on a letter that was sent out to at least 1,000 ESD families. I would have handed her mine! Nathan Campbell taught my daughter at ESD and was loved and admired by many students and faculty. He was clearly deceiving us all. It’s sad to read all of the negative comments about the school that one of my children graduated from and that one child currently attends. There are many talented students and caring faculty and staff at ESD. I doubt that any school could handle a horrible situation like this perfectly, or even close!

  7. Truth Teller @ September 1, 2011 at 10:52 am
    This man is still out there destorying peoples lives. He is still around women and children and no telling what he is capable of doing. I dont understand how is he is not in jail or under court orders to stay away from women and children. Including his own young child.

  8. Truth Teller @ September 9, 2011 at 1:22 pm
    Does anyone know about when his trail will be?

  9. Alain deCouvre @ October 5, 2011 at 1:04 pm
    I read a long article from D Magazine about this sex scandal and the subsequent trial. I’m glad that Emily (the plaintiff) won the case. Up to a certain point, Episcopal School of Dallas was not negligent or acting poorly, I think. I think ESD was correct in firing Campbell and offering Emily counselling services. They perhaps could offer more too but in terms of actions done up they were fine. But, where they started making egregious error was in calling Emily’s father to the school and telling the family that they either had to take Emily out of the school or the school will expel Emily. That’s not the way to handle the situation. If they found that Emily’s inquisitiveness about Nathan (the teacher) wife was affecting the school climate, they should have pulled her aside and have a long conversation with her and her family together. That’s what they should have done. Unfortunately, ESD didn’t and from there onwards, everything they did was trying to cover their track, not be clear about their intentions, and so forth. I’m very sorry to hear that the founder, Father Swann, played in the game of cover up too. As a religious leader, he holds an official position where high morality plays and we all expect more from him. Shame on ESD administrators and shame on Father Swann.

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